Valve lifter puller



Allg- 1955 F. c. SMITH 2,716,274

VALVE LIFTER FULLER Filed March 3, 1952 'IiIIII'IIIII 3nnentor FRED C. SMITH I %,4@MW

(Ittomeg United States Patent This invention relates to tools which in the automobile engine rapair business are known as valve lifter pullers and it has reference more particularly to a valve lifter pulling tool that is designed for the removal of the small hydraulic valve lifters that, in some present day automobile engines, are located between the cams of the cam shafts and lower ends of the lift rods of the engine valves that control the admittance of fuel charges to and the exhaustion of burned charges from the engines cylinders.

For a better understanding of the present tool, its objects and its mode of use, it will here be explained that a typical form of hydraulic valve lifter comprises a cylmdrical body, open at its upper end and formed with a closing wall at its lower end that rests against a cam of a cam shaft. Slidably fitted in the cylindrical body is a plunger or piston, and this generally is formed in its upper end with a socket in which the lower end of the stem of an engine valve seats. The cylindrical body of the valve lifter is reciprocally contained in a guide, or housing, and is caused to reciprocate with the turning of the cam, thus to efiect and control the opening and closing action of the engine valve at the upper end of the valve stem; which engine valve controls the admittance or exhaustion of fuel charges from an engine cylinder.

The cylindrical body of the hydraulic valve lifter, in most instances, has a side wall port therein through which the chamber in the valve body has communication with a source of hydraulic pressure medium. Generally this medium is oil as supplied under pressure by the oiling system of the engine, and the pressure of oil is so maintained therein that the plunger in the cylindrical body operates as a lifting device for the engine valve; this being well understood in the art.

Valve lifters, as used in various makes of present day automobile engines, differ in details of construction and to some extent in methods of maintaining oil pressure therein. However, they are substantially alike in that they all employ a cylindrical valve body that is reciprocally slidable in a guide bearing, and the upper end of the cylindrical body can be extended to a slight distance above the guide bearing by a proper setting of the actuating cam.

The need for a tool of the present character arises from the fact that such hydraulic valve lifters, for various reasons, one of which may be a lack of proper lubrication, become stuck in their bearings and must be removed for cleaning or repair. To my knowledge, there is no special tool now available for the purpose of lifting or pulling such hydraulic valve lifters from their bearings, and this has proven to be a difiicult and time consuming task, especially if the lifter has become stuck in its guide bearing.

In view of the foregoing explanatory matter, it has been the principal object of this invention to provide a simple tool, designed as a means for pulling or lifting the hydraulic valve lifters from their containing guide bearings. Furthermore, to provide a device which comprises 2,716,274 Patented Aug. 30, 1955 'ice a clamp that may be easily applied over and about the upper end portion of the lifter body and then secured thereto, and a pull rod that may be extended downwardly through the valve stem guide bushing of the engine and threaded into the clamp; said clamp being in the form of a cap which, for easy application over the upper end of the valve lifter, is partially split and is equipped with a clamping bolt that may be tightened to contract and secure the clamp to the lifter and at the same time, by this contraction, to secure the pull rod against rotation in the clamp.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a device of the above character that is relatively inexpensive; that can be easily and readily applied for use; that can be adapted to valve litters of various kinds and sizes and which is not limited in use to any specific make of automobile engine but is applicable to practically all engines now using such valve lifters.

Still further objects of the invention reside in the details of construction and combination of parts, as will hereafter be fully described.

In accomplishing these and other objects of the invention, I have provided the improved details of construction, the preferred forms of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Pig. 1 is a perspective view of the present tool; showing the pull rod disconnected from the clamp device.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view, showing a part of an automobile engine, and illustrating the mode of application of the present tool to a hydraulic valve lifter for pulling the latter from its guide bearing.

Fig. 3 is a cross-section, taken on line 3-3 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a cross-section taken on line 4-4 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a set of adapters that may be selectively used in the clamp to adapt the device to receive valve lifters of different diameters.

Referring more in detail to the drawings The present tool comprises a straight rod which, for use with present day automobile engines, should be about eleven inches long and five-sixteenths inch in diameter. At its upper end, the rod 10 is equipped with a cross-head 11 serving as a handle for the tool, and along its lower end portion, the rod is threaded, as indicated at 12. Applicable to the lower end of the rod 10 is a clamp device, herein designated in its entirety by reference numeral 13.

The clamp device 13 is in the form of an inverted cup, with cylindrical side walls 14 and an upwardly sloping upper end closing wall 15 that is formed coaxially of the cylindrical wall 14, with an opening 16 into which the lower end of the rod 10 can be threaded. The clamp member 13 thus forms a downwardly opening, cylindrical socket 17, designed to receive therein the upper end portion of the cylindrical body of the valve lifter that is to be pulled from its guide housing as presently explained. After the clamp member 13 has been applied over the upper end of the valve lifter body, it is clamped thereto by means of a clamp bolt 20 that is applied through ears 21 and 22 that extend outwardly from a side wall of the cylindrical body 14. To make such a clamping operation possible, the clamp member 13, which is made of a somewhat resilient metal, is split diametrically, as at 25 in Fig. 3, the split passing between the two ears and through the top wall 15 and to the opposite side wall. Normally, the clamp body is easily applicable over the upper end portion of the body of the valve lifter that is to be lifted, and then by tightening the bolt 20, it can be drawn tightly about the end of the lifter body. It is shown in Fig. 4, that the clamp bolt extends freely through a hole 27 that is formed in the ear 21, and is threaded into a hole 28 in the ear 22, and that the bolt has a wrench head 20 at one end that engages flatly against the car 21.

tool is designed for use. 7 part of theside'wail of the cylinder of the' engine and ,For explanatory purposes I have shown, in Fig. 2, a portion of an automobile engine equipped with a hydraulic valve lifter of that kind for which the present In this view, 3t) designates a 31" designates a'ca'rn shaft equipped with cam 32 designed for the actuation of a hydraulic valve lifter 33. This lifter is reciprocally movable in guide bearing 35 formed at the lower end of the engine block. The bearing 35 is axially aligned with a valve guide bushing 36 fitted in a partof the engine block designated at 37 and this latter bushing is designed to reciprocally contain the stem of an engine'valve that controls the admittance of or exhaustion' of fuel charges from an engine cylinder; it being understood that this valve and stem are removedwhen it is desired to use the present tool, and they have" not been shown in the present drawing.

To use the present tool for the pulling of the hydraulic valve lifter 33 from its'bearing 35,'the clamp bolt 20 is loosened, and rod is unthreaded from the clamp member 13. The latter is then applied over the upper end of the valve lifter 33 as in Fig. 2. The rod 10 is then projected downwardly through the bushing 36 and 'is' threaded at its *lower end into the hole 16 in the upper end wall of the loosened clamp. Then the clamp bolt is tightened to contract and to secure the clamp to the valve lifter body. This tightening operation not only secures the clamp to the valve body but also secures the clamp and rod against relative turning; it being understood that the diameter of the threaded lower end of the rod is such that this can and does result.

With the puller so secured, the user grasps the cross bar ll and,-using it as a handle, oscillates the rod 10 while pulling upwardly thereon, thus to work the valve lifter body 33 from its guide After the body 33 has been lifted -free,-the clamp bolt 20 is loosened and the body removed from the clamp member.

If it should happen that the body of the hydraulic valve lifter is-too small forthe clamp member, then an adapter bushing, similar to any of those shown in Fig. 4 and designated by numeral 40, may be slipped inside the socket 17of clamp 13 to reduce its effective inside diameter. It is usuall-ythe case that the clamp so'cket is made of such size as to accommodate the larger valve lifters and adapter sleevesare provided in graduated sizes to be used to meet the requirements'of valve lifters of smaller diameter. Each adapter comprises a cylindrical member. 40, split atone side, as at 41 in Fig. 5 to permit it being contracted. v v

Tools of this kind can be made in various sizes as may be desired or required. The clamp'13 might be made in longervlengths if necessary for use with those types of valve lifters where the plunger extends somewhat above the valve lifter body. However, the same general princi ples would be employed therein. One of the important features of the invention resides in the fact that the tightening of the clamp about the upper end of the lifter body also tightents it about the lower end of rod 10 to secure it to the clamp. While it is desirable, it is not absolutely essential that the rod 10 be threaded into opening 16.

Valve lifter pullers of this kind provide means for easy and quick removal of valve lifters and therefore reduce repair time and expense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

A hand puller for a valve lifter as employed in an engine having the lifter fitted in a guide bearing that is coaxially aligned with a valve rod guide bushing and a valve seat substantially spaced from the lifter; said puller comprising a clamp member of inverted, cup-like form with a cylindrical body adapted to be applied over the upper end portion of the lifter and having an integral end wall; said clamp members being diametrically split through the said end wall and one side wall to permit slight con traction of the body portion, and also formed concentrically of the end Wall with a threaded opening through which said body split passes, an elongated pull rod adapted to be freely passed downwardly through the guide bushing and having a handle at its upper end and having a threaded lower end portion adapted to be freely threaded into said threaded opening of the clamp member, and a clamp bolt applied through the split body portion of thefclarnp and adapted to be tightened to efiect the diametrical contraction of the clamp member whereby the clamp member is secured to the valve lifter and said rod is locked against release from or turning in the threaded opening of the clamp member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

